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Christopher Jackson — Thought Leader

Author of Reliability in Emerging Technology, multiple books, co-host on Speaking of Reliability, and speaker in the Accendo Reliability Webinar Series.


This author's archive lists contributions of articles and episodes.

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10 Reasons to Do Reliability

10 Reasons to Do Reliability

10 Reasons to Do Reliability

podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson

Everyone ‘knows’ why we do reliability engineering … right? Customer experience. Organization reputation. Reduced warranty claims ten years from now. But these are boring reasons that really don’t motivate me to take reliability seriously now. Why should I invest so much time into an activity that benefits the ‘company’ or the ‘customer’ in the future but won’t make an immediate difference when my boss gives me a ‘gold star’ on my next performance appraisal? Besides, no one person is responsible for reliability, so any effort I invest in reliability will be ‘lost in the noise’ anyway. And, of course, reliability will increase the budget and schedule today. Right? [Read more…]

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What is ‘Supportability’ and How Does it Relate to Reliability?

What is ‘Supportability’ and How Does it Relate to Reliability?

What is ‘Supportability’ and How Does it Relate to Reliability?

podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson

What is supportability? Is it working out how many spare parts you will need (and when)? No. Is it working out how many maintainers or technicians you will need to keep your system working? Still no. What about working out what tools these maintainers or technicians need? No again. But many people think that this is what ‘supportability’ is. ‘Supportability’ is actually a characteristic of your product or system. Is the ‘ability’ for it to be ‘supported.’ And this can mean different things in different scenarios. It is also not a ‘number.’ If you have two comparable systems, but one needs fewer spare parts, is easier to maintain, needs fewer tools, has lots of sensors that give plenty of warning for maintenance, and so on … then it might be more supportable. But the main thing you need to ‘think about’ regarding supportability is that because it is a characteristic of a product or system … it has to be baked INTO the design. Want to learn more about how to do this? Join us for this webinar.
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Where does the Bell Curve come from?

Where does the Bell Curve come from?

Where does the Bell Curve come from?

podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson

Everyone has heard of the ‘bell curve.’ Sports show hosts, teachers, scientists, and a bunch of other people routinely use the term ‘bell curve’ to describe uncertainty. But do you know where it comes from? It is not just a ‘pretty shape’ that seems to work, It comes from a really cool physical phenomena that we find everywhere. So, the ‘bell curve’ naturally aligns with how our primitive human brain often tries to characterize or visualize uncertainty. The other really cool thing about the bell curve (and lots of other curves that look like bells) is that if we find it in our reliability data, it automatically tells us where to look in order to improve reliability. If you want a basic introduction to one of the most common statistical concepts with NO EQUATIONS … this is the webinar for you!
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